My Friday suspicions were confirmed Sunday evening: The Mets called up Jason Isringhausen and Ryota Igarashi, designating Blaine Boyer for assignment and optioning Lucas Duda to Triple-A.

The move came on the heels of a brutal extra-inning loss to the Nationals in which Boyer allowed four runs in the 11th, his second inning of work. Boyer got off to a pretty terrible start, reminding everyone of the value of Spring Training stats. To his credit, though, he pitched in more than half of the Mets’ games — rarely a good recipe.

Actually, D.J. Carrasco, Tim Byrdak, Taylor Buchholz and Boyer have all pitched in five games so far, which, probably more than Boyer’s ineffectiveness, prompted the roster shakeup. Isringhausen and Igarashi provide fresh arms when the team desperately needs them.

Isringhausen we expected, since he was in extended Spring Training waiting on just this occasion. Igarashi might come as a bit of surprise, but Manny Acosta can’t be recalled within 10 days of being designated for assignment, plus he hasn’t pitched in a week. I imagine, unless an injury arises or someone else pitches terribly, Igarashi will be the one to go whenever Jason Bay returns, if not sooner.

As for that: The Mets could use Bay right about now, with Brad Emaus and Angel Pagan struggling a bit and Willie Harris apparently returning to being Willie Harris. But it’s way, way, way too early to be concerned about Pagan, especially since he’s maintaining a .310 on-base percentage despite his .171 batting average.

Bay’s return would move Harris back to a more familiar bench role where the Mets could use him.  Duda, Scott Hairston, Daniel Murphy, Chin-Lung Hu and Mike Nickeas have combined for a putrid .136/.212/.169 line in the team’s first nine games. That’s unlikely to continue, especially once Ronny Paulino replaces Nickeas.

Ah yes, a bad bench and a bad bullpen. It’s like 2008, except it’s still really early in the season and the Mets’ front office appears conscious of the team’s weaknesses.

One other thing: At least one person that is actually paid to analyze baseball criticized Terry Collins for pulling Chris Young after 108 pitches yesterday. That’s silly. I’m plenty skeptical about the value of strict pitch-count limits, but it’s April and Young is coming off three straight seasons shortened by injury. Yes, Young was pitching really well yesterday and perhaps would have continued doing so into the eighth inning and secured a win. But jeopardizing his health means risking wins down the road. You need to have a bullpen you can trust to hold the Nationals off for two innings. That’s the issue here, not the pitch count.